Afterlife
by cycl
Summary: What happens when you die? You might be surprised.
1. Chapter 1

"I'm Veronica Irvine. Nice to meet you all," I said. My seat in the classroom was predetermined; the back-right corner that hadn't been used, the furthest from the windows and the chalkboard. In front of me was a redheaded girl without freckles, to my left was a blond boy who was in dire need of a haircut. Some people glanced back at me, some were chatting in whispers as the teacher began her job, but most of them just sat there looking bored out of their minds. Word around the school was that this U.S. History class was pretty dreadful, and I was going to have to begin my day with it for the remainder of my sophomore year. My joy knew no bounds.

I realized that reading a comic book during a lesson was against the rules, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. The teacher didn't even mention it, so I just zoned out from whatever we were going over. It felt great when the bell rang without me having to do any work at all, except for that moment as I was walking out the door that Mrs. Smith stuck a detention slip to the top of the stack of books I'd been carrying. At that moment, I had a little shiver of shock that did not go away as I saw her glaring at me. Her expression was colder than the classroom.

I watched myself a little closer the next couple classes, since I'd already screwed up within an hour of being at my new school. Inadvertently, I earned the respect of my English 10 and Algebra II teachers just by being deathly quiet and listening closely. During lunch, I sat in the library and tried to think of a better approach than just being overly cautious. My efforts were fruitless. I was very edgy in Health and Physics. Japanese wasn't much better. No one spoke to me all day, but that was somehow more comfortable. The only exception was Art.

In Art class, I had to loosen up a little. I knew that much; my drawings are garbage when I'm unfocused. I blocked out everyone in the room and suddenly it was just me, a pencil, and my sketch pad. For the first time since I left the apartment this morning, I felt completely calm. My hand formed one shape after the other, and as I went things came to me that never had before. I added more and more details, tried new styles I'd never even thought about; by the time I was adding the finishing touches, it was already the best thing I'd ever drawn. Sitting in his trademark pose was L Lawliet. His eyes reflected that analytic gaze, and not a hair was out of place (that shouldn't be). It was astoundingly lifelike. When had I gotten this good? I hadn't been drawing all that much, and suddenly... this. I was just sitting there, staring at it, when the teacher's laugh broke the silence, broke my concentration.

My head snapped back to look at him. Mr. Harris was standing right behind me, having been looking over my shoulder. "The bell rang, you know?"

"Oh, uh, thanks," I tried to reply. My voice was rough from not talking all day. I hoped he didn't think my voice was weird. He was smiling a friendly sort of smile, so it seemed likely he wouldn't. Regardless, it was increasingly uncomfortable to have such obvious fan art sitting on the table. I flipped it closed and forced myself not to run out of the classroom.

"See you tomorrow," he called.

I stopped walking for a split second, then repeated the same.

By the time I reached my locker, all of the upperclassmen who kept crowding around in between classes were already gone. It was nice to access my locker freely for once. I was getting out the textbooks I needed for homework tonight when I remembered detention. Better to serve it today, before anyone knows me well enough to know I was there?

It was rather dreadful. Did you expect anything else? No one could talk, and we had to work on homework the entire time. Someone actually got yelled at just for being unproductive, though he didn't have anything to work on in the first place. I finished every assignment I had, but read some chapters in my U.S. History book just to look like I was still busy. It was very boring.

The sky was gray when I left the building. I recognized that it would rain, but since I left everything of importance in my locker, I didn't try to avoid it. It started with a sprinkle, then proceeded to pelt the sidewalk in a slant. I continued to amble on, slowed by the weight of my soaked clothing. I kept my head down when a drop hit me in the eye.

I think I tried to look both ways before I crossed the street. I don't know if that makes a difference, though. Someone swerved out of the lane when he lost control. I heard the sounds, but didn't have enough time to look up again before something very metallic slammed into my side. I fell over and some wheels rolled over me.

I died.

It was actually a brutal thing to look at, my own corpse. Closed-casket type of deal. I attended the funeral. My older brother flew home for it, too. He was bawling as he leaned over the box. I tried to pat him on the back but my hand went through and then he had goosebumps. "Oops." For a moment, he looked right at me with these wide eyes. I decided I probably shouldn't touch anyone.

My mother was sitting beside my father, for the first time in a couple years. My step-mom was beside him as well. She was playing with her cell phone, but the other two looked pretty torn up about the whole mess. What was it like to lose a child? I guess none of us had given too much thought about how important our family members were to us. Had they thought about how they'd feel if the other was dead, when they decided they didn't love each other enough to be married anymore?

I wished my cat was here. They didn't bring Kitty Kitty Bang Bang, and it made the entire thing far more depressing. Just imagining him playing with the tassel on the curtains made me smile. Him meowing for food. A simple cat to the very end, ever so loveable.

But you know, what really bothered me was that the snack table didn't have any Dr. Pepper. I couldn't find a single drop of the stuff. What did it matter if I couldn't drink it? It was still a horrendous act against humanity to deprive everyone of the drink of the gods on this day of mourning. I bet those kids who've just been sitting in the other room the whole time would agree that this place needed some caffeinated, carbonated deliciousness. But all there was on the table was fruit juice and oatmeal cookies. Unacceptable.

There was an old lady playing a harp while a slide show of pictures of my childhood was showing. The pictures were embarrassing, so I just sat on the carpet and listened to that song of hers. It was nice. If I was still alive, I think I'd take some harp lessons. I never learned any instruments, and that really kind of sucks. I stared at the ceiling.

You always wonder what's going to happen when you die. I was one of those guys who assumed you just fade into nonexistence. Mom liked to watch ghost shows and talk about heaven. She was always really certain that ghosts existed. She said they were spirits that were afraid to move on, or were being prevented by something. I guess I'm a ghost right now? But I'm not afraid, I don't think anyway. And it's not like anyone would prevent me from going wherever dead people go, either. The only people who remember that I existed at all are all here. Minus people from school, I guess. I only went to that school for one day, and I dropped dead right afterward. They always have the students pretend they care when someone from the school dies, but I don't think anyone's going to care about some girl who went there for one day and walked around with her lips sealed shut. Did anyone even think to alert the school? I imagine Mrs. Smith is getting peeved, thinking I ignored her _and_ skipped class.

I left my funeral and went to the school. My locker door was open, and the entire thing was cleared out. _Annoying_. I guessed they took my stuff to the office, so I went that way. Everything was sitting on the front desk... except my sketchbook. _Really, really annoying_. I figured it might be in the art room, since it's technically for that class. It at least sounded like the most reasonable place to check third.

The tables were empty even though the light was on. I checked the shelves and the desk, but couldn't find it. Then I looked at the tackboard.

Right smack-dab in the center, he'd stuck my drawing of L Lawliet, with a highlighter yellow-colored tack. I gasped. _Gasped_. Horrific. You know how the drawing always looks better right after you finish it than it does the day after? That was how it was. And he put it in such a visible place, the bastard.

I tried to take it down, rip it off, anything to get it off that tackboard, but my hands kept going through it.

He was laughing again, I realized. "What the hell?" I'd thought aloud, too used to no one hearing me.

"I thought that you'd like having it hung up like that. I guess I was wrong, huh?" Mr. Harris said.

I just stared at him.

"What?"

"You... you can see me?"

"Am I not supposed to?"

"I'm dead, so no. You aren't supposed to."

"Oh." He covered his eyes with his hands.

I reached up to pull them off, annoyed by his playfulness. I wanted answers, not... I let go of his wrists. _I can touch him_?

"I thought I wasn't supposed to look at you," he said with an eyebrow raised.

"I thought I wasn't supposed to touch you!" I was shaken, and I couldn't help but raise my voice. "...I mean," I took a breath and tried to make a logical sentence, "I didn't think I could touch anyone. Every time I touched anything else, I'd just go through it."

"Well, yeah, you don't exist here."

"What?"

"You're done living in this dimension. You disconnected from your physical body, since its unfit to support life. I don't know what you're doing, still hanging out around here."

"Still hanging out around here? Where am I supposed to go?"

He sighed. "You really don't know much, do you?"

I waited.

He finally continued, "You can go anywhere, I guess. Go be reborn somewhere, live again in another dimension," he glanced over at my drawing, "Maybe go live in that guy's dimension?"

"This is absurd. Are you trying to say I can go reincarnate into a manga story?"

"I don't see why not."

I held my head. What a headache. "Then, what about you? Are you some kind of," I waved my hand around, "inter-dimensional something or another? How come I can touch you?" I poked him.

"It's not that hard to figure out," he said.

Then, he disappeared.

I stared at the place he used to exist in. Then I turned around.

To go into another dimension... Do you just will it or something? I want to go into Death Note. How's that? Some kind of magical spell or something? I don't know. I tried to take down the drawing again. I almost thought I would be able to touch it. But it did give me an idea.

I went back into the office. Within the pile of my belongings was the Death Note manga. I watched the anime a few times, and I finally bought the first volume of the manga just a couple days ago. It's really terrible that I never even got past the first few chapters. I picked it up. It was very solid, just as I had expected. I flipped it open. The secretary's eyes were wide. I jumped into the pages with a flash of blue light.

The book fell back down, closing.

I woke up as Yagami Sayu.


	2. Chapter 2

"Yagami, answer the question!" An angry Japanese man snapped. I opened my eyes a little, and there happened to be an angry Japanese man looking right at me. His eyes reminded me of rusting metal, the kind you find on old bicycles that no one cared to bring inside. Today, they were saying something like "stop sleeping in my class, you degenerate".

Some people who were behind me were giggling a muffled chorus as I lifted my head to sit up properly. I glanced at the textbook I must have been using as a pillow. "Which?"  
I knew in my head that asking a question was not the proper way to answer a question, but it was the most logical course of action. It seemed to tip him over the edge. I am making a horrible record for myself with these teachers, really.

Someone tried to whisper which problem it was, but my hearing wasn't great and I didn't get anything out of their mumbles.

The teacher was writing something on the board. I watched with a creeping premonition. He turned. "Get up here."

There were many people, but I knew who it had to be directed towards. I walked up to the board, prepared for something dreadful.

"This one," he pointed, "Answer this one, if you know the material well enough to sleep instead." He handed me the chalk.

I turned to the board and had to hold back a laugh. Pre-Algebra?

The set of all a such that a is less than or equal to negative sixteen, I wrote. I wasn't all that great in math, but I did take this class a couple years ago... Nevertheless, turning away from the board I saw an amusing sight: twenty-three pairs of widened eyes. I looked to the teacher. If his goal was to humiliate me in front of the class... I assume he's failed.

"...Good work. Sit down," he said.

I held back another laugh.

Yagami Sayu sits right by the window, like her brother and any other anime character. I noted this as I returned to the place I awakened. It was an interesting thing, the convenient seating. The blinds were up, too. It was begging to be stared out of with a dreamy gaze, you know? The only times I sat near a window, it was either too close to the front to ignore the teacher, or the blinds seemed to be perpetually down. I remember, I'd actually checked to see whether Mrs. Baxter had glued them down. That was a dreary class...

See? Windows are incredibly distracting. No wonder Sayu sucks at math! I studied the desk instead. She'd been doodling on it... I wonder if Sayu owns a sketchbook?

Ah, that's right. You're wondering how I guessed that I'm Sayu pretty much immediately? It's not like it was a big mystery. I'm in Death Note. I was referred to as Yagami. Even from first-person, I can tell that I'm wearing seifuku. I don't think Light had time for that kind of hobby off-screen. It's admittedly curious that I became Yagami Sayu. I would have thought I'd be a baby, or maybe some version of myself in Death Note, like the original characters that just suddenly exist in the fan fictions. I don't really know all that much about this kind of thing, but I started to think that maybe I really am just a version of Sayu... Is that crazy? Maybe backwards. But Sayu couldn't have been a version of me, right? I'm just some body-stealer? Did I kill the original Sayu? I think she's still here. She'd have to be, or there's no way I'd understand all this Japanese so easily. I've only taken a year, nowhere near all of the things I've been hearing in this class. Therefore, there is evidence of at least a shred of Sayu here. ...Am I Sayu's conscience now?

I slammed my head, Sayu's head, whatever, on the desk. I'd ask Mr. Harris to explain the details, but he's gone to somewhere I don't know how to follow. He'd probably make me feel stupider for asking, anyway. Some teacher.

The class ended. The pandemonium was akin to that I'd observed in the classes I took in America. Surprisingly comforting. I gathered my books and waited for the doorway to decongest. A few of my friends, Sayu's friends... I shook my head. Some kids walked up to me. Their names were Yukari and Misaki. They were ridiculously cute, although the effort taken to look as such was clear. Not that that invalidated it. I still had an urge to hug them. I restricted myself, but smiled a little too eagerly. Oh dear.

"Oh my gosh, Sayu! I thought you were flunking math, you nerd!" Yukari giggled. I had a thought in which she was referred to as Yuka-tan. I believe that's her nickname, then? Yuka-tan was giggling.

"Seriously! I got so confused. Isn't all of that stuff from the next chapter?" Misaki appeared genuinely perplexed.

"Um... Light's been tutoring me, so..." I tried to think of a way Sayu would reply to Misaki-chi (Misaki-chi?) while Yuka-tan was clinging to my arm and guiding me out of the class.

"Hah, that makes sense, then," Misaki then smiled.

"Well, throw enough stuff and something's bound to stick, right?"

By the end of school, I knew there was something I needed to admit. No, no, nothing crazy, like "I'm from another universe," or, "I'm already dead,". Just that... Well, Sayu's life is a hell of lot more fun than mine ever was! I felt bad about thinking that the first time it came to mind, but it's really the truth. I love being Sayu, maybe more than I should. I'm just really going to enjoy this... second chance, thing.

I stared at Sayu's face in the mirror and made some faces. This is my face. Some of them got to looking pretty goofy, and I giggled. _Giggled_. Ah, jeez; when was the last time I did that? As a fan I always thought of Sayu's life as one of ignorance, innocence. That was how it was, but somehow it was so wonderful, just being a young girl like that. Maybe I grew up a little too quickly.

Misaki and Yukari invited me out to go shopping on New Year's. I agreed, but I think Sayu's wardrobe is already pretty stocked. Her clothes are all very cute, and there are fancier things too. I forced myself out of the bedroom after a bit, since I was heading to hours of dress-up otherwise. I don't remember caring about clothes so much at home, or maybe just not my own. My old style of dress usually got me mistaken for a guy, paired with my super short hair. That sucked, but I was lazy and depressed and so I'd always just say screw it and ignore that kind of thing. Now, I get a do-over! This whole thing has more perks than I've even realized, and I've hardly even met any main cast yet!

I flung myself onto the couch and switched to one of those TV dramas Sayu liked. I had to admit, that Ryuuga Hideki was a knockout. I guess I'm a sucker for fake characters in either universe.

I rolled around and started to think about some stuff while the commercials were playing. Some stuff being Death Note's actual plot. It's kind of neat, that there's a plot to life as of now. I've been ignoring it, but in reality Sayu doesn't exactly take a lead role with the Kira versus L deal anyway. I'm thinking that I don't like the whole supporting character thing all that much, but how do I lodge myself in the center of the mental warfare? Also... is that a suicide mission? It's a little idiotic to proceed with just "get tangled up in the mess" as a goal. That's asking to get murdered. If I just want to meet characters, I think that will happen inevitably for a few of them. Not so much L, but...

Hey!

That's an idea.

L.

L Lawliet.

That guy.

…

So, he dies. That really sucks.

I rolled around again. The TV show was starting up again, but it was a recap and the ending credits. Bollocks. I sat up.

L Lawliet. L Lawliet. L Law-

I realized something amazing. I know L's name. Advantage Sayu! That's the top-secret information that gives you all the power in Death Note. All the power, but what the fuck am I doing with it? Watching TV dramas. I tried suffocating myself with a couch pillow for a minute, then decided fresh air could be beneficial. I walked past the kitchen.

"Mom, what's today?"

"Monday, hon."

"No, like, what's the date?"

"Uhhh, December 22nd?"

"You sure?"

"Sayu, shouldn't you know the date yourself? It's only a few days to Christmas, after all," Sachiko sighed.

"Fair enough. One last question?"

"Fine."

"What year is it, again?" I smiled a silly smile.

She bonked me on the head with a mixing spoon. "2003, you goof."

"Thanks, mom!"

I slipped out the front door, and my face was serious again. December 22nd, 2003. That's a decade behind my dimension! Not the point, though. December 22nd, on December 22nd, Light...

...did...

something.

I don't know! I held my head. I don't know the exact dates of every single event in Death Note! I'd have to check the wiki or something, I don't have that kind of crap memorized! I groaned. I'll have to stalk Light or watch the news or something to see what's going on with the plot. Maybe... look for cameras? Is it too soon? Too late? I don't even know. Why is it so cold? Oh, right, it's December.

I went back inside. I had major paranoia and I was inspecting every corner and crevice for a camera of some inconspicuously minor size. Sachiko walked by as I was doing it. My efforts proved nothing, but for a degrading perceived state of my mental health in terms of Mother's point of view(Is it alright to be calling Sachiko "mother"? Oh well). I suppose there wasn't much of a loss, either, so long as there aren't actually any cameras.

FORGET THE CAMERAS! I pillowed my face again. Oooh, this isn't going well. I should go back to school and ignore the plot like a good Sayu. Except it's winter break. Fiiiiiiiretruuuuuuuucks-

Let's watch the news. The news is good. I clicked to it with the TV remote. Where the hell is Light, anyway? Oh, it's on. Okay, never mind him for now.

Trending Internet videos... Ryuuga Hideki spotted drinking Starbucks Coffee... Some kind of yodeling competition... Animals assisting the firefighters... Ah! Kira updates. Or, really, just some reports of heart attack victims. I forgot how clueless the reporters were. It was always in L's and Light's heads. What a pain.

I decided to take the pillow with me. I'd been squeezing it to death and I did not feel like putting it down. Light seems to be relatively calm, I suppose. Average amount of killings? I don't know. Is he home yet? Cram school seems pretty brutal. I went to the door and waited on the steps. It was even colder now. The waning crescent was accompanied by its entourage, a mischievous group of white dots known as stars that enjoyed speckling the perfect darkness of the night sky...

"Sayu? What are you doing out here? It's freezing," Light had been talking to me, though he had yet to reach the steps himself. Light had sounded a tad concerned, though emotions were below a god like him. I shifted my gaze from the sky to him, then I stood to assume a sisterly role of some sort. I tried the hand-on-hip pose and went to say something that shows I care, too, but I was kind of at a loss for words. I stood silently like that until he met me. He was really tall, like my own older brother. It didn't help that Sayu is ridiculously short. I still couldn't think of much to say to Light. Yagami Light, in the flesh, and I've gone mute? I'm his little sister now, too... That's actually really creepy. Oh god. I still hadn't said anything. He put his hand on my shoulder and guided me inside. When I started to feel actual warmth, I recognized that I'd reached that point of being so cold you feel warm before. Somehow, I'm still a little numb after being dead, but I'm really happy to be able to feel anything at all again...

I started to feel tears roll down my cheeks. Light noticed. Sachiko, who'd come to greet Light and now myself as well, noticed too. I was crying, and I couldn't stop it when I tried.

"What's wrong, Sayu? Did something happen?"

I wiped at my eyes with my sleeve. I was smiling. They couldn't see that part of my face.

"Come on, talk to me. Are you upset?"

_Quite the opposite._ I tilted my head up and grinned broadly, wet eyes glistening with those joyful tears.

"I'm just so glad." I felt like there was more I could add to that sentence, but I didn't have enough words at the time. I dropped the pillow and hugged Light instead. When I let go, I attempted to justify it by tacking on more words, though they weren't the original meaning at all. If they had been... _I'm so glad to be alive again_, I don't know about that. I settled for something sweet. "I'm so glad to see you. I feel like this is the first time I've seen you in such a long time, but I don't know why." _Yes, I do. Because this is the first time we've ever even met._

* * *

**The chapters always look so much longer in LibreOffice. :T Ah well. Ktkr! Chapter 2! Yay~  
Major thank you to the wonderful people who read the amateur writings I produce! Followers ChillingShadow, AnoifEaterofOrcs, and confusionissex, I salute you! 8D  
To ChillingShadow:  
I thought it was a cool idea, as well~! She is her pre-timeskip age, which is fourteen or fifteen... Aha.  
To AnoifEaterofOrcs:  
I'm glad you think so! I hope this update does not disappoint you XD  
**


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